Mud
by LittleNapoleon
Summary: A thousand years is a long time to be roaming the Earth, and you are bound to see somethings that you wish you could forget. But, you never really. Elijah reflects on one of those moments. Slightly AU, Elijah/Male!OC, no slash. WWI era. *Dark, death, war*


**Summary: **A thousand years is a long time to be roaming the Earth, and you are bound to see somethings that you wish you could forget. But, you never really. Elijah reflects on one of those moments. Slightly AU, Elijah/Male!OC, no slash. WWI era.

**Mud. **

When one lives as long as he had, the world just moves around you while you stay the same. He had seen things, he had met people, lived long enough to see them die and lived long after. But, there was somethings that he does hold inside him. Not to be opened again, and there's not much that can be done if those memories are opened again.

Klaus is being careless again, says something. Once the words left his mouth, Elijah wishes that he had just shut up.

"_You live forever, you tend to experience things. I believe that Elijah even fought in one of the world wars." _he had remarked over that one dinner that Elijah was forced to sit on in, Stefan and Damon sitting across from them. The two younger vampires seemed a little intrigued by that information. But, that was soon dropped once Damon started to get his mind back on the 'stop Klaus' plan.

But, Elijah's mind wanted to wonder back to that time. He had fallen silent for the duration of the dinner, and was still thinking about it once he left Mystic Falls when his siblings were splitting up.

He allowed himself to think back before he had gotten out in the front line, wondering why he had even made the choice to join. It was one of the few instances in time where he had lost Klaus, and trying to find Klaus in a war torn country side seemed easy enough. But, something part of him wanted to see what it was like, caught up in the spirit of the war.

It wasn't until he actually got to see action that he regretted the idea. He didn't leave, he deemed himself to honourable for that. There was someone else there too, a young boy that was no older than fourteen.

_!~!~!~!_

_Elijah sat around a camp fire, tents erected around him as other soldiers walked around, after almost two days of constant marching, it was nice to be able to stop for a few moments. Elijah himself didn't feel the effects really, but he could sense it on the people around him and it seemed to rub off on him a bit. _

_A young boy sat beside him, the two of them not talking since the boy had sat down beside him. Elijah glanced down at the bread in his hand, taking a side long glance at the boy sitting beside him. His dirty hands holding his rifle in his hands like a lifeline. _

_The boy couldn't have been no older than his youngest brother, Henrick, before he had died. He paused for a few moments before he leaned over slightly and held out his bread towards the boy. _

_The youngster stared at him for a few moments, then took the bread. "Thank you, sir."_

_Elijah only nodded, looking away for a few moments before he glanced back over at him. "How old are you?"_

"_Fourteen," the boy replied, glancing up at him as he swallowed what was in his mouth. "What is your name, sir?"_

"_Elijah."_

_The boy nodded, "my name is Alfred." _

_!~!~!~!_

_A thousand years, and Elijah had never felt more human sitting in the trench. All injuries he had sustained healed themselves, but the mud and dirt was enough to not make people question it. But, it was disorienting, trying to pick out voices and conversations between gunfire and artillery strikes. Dirt, earth, flying up. People yelling in pain. _

_He was leaning against the side of the trench, listening for the signal he was waiting for. Waiting to be told to go over the top and into No Man's Land. He felt somebody moving up beside him, Elijah taking a quick glance beside him to see Alfred beside him. _

_Over the time that he had been with the army, he had grown attached to the boy. He wanted to protect him, but it was hard when all he was to do was run head first into the danger. _

"_We just have to get over," he heard Alfred say over the battle, "get to the other side. Don't stop running," he glanced at Elijah as other soldiers gathered up on the side of the trenches, "y-you'll have my back, right?"_

_Elijah moved his head as dirt sprayed up over the top, landing on his head. He glanced at Alfred, the young boy's blonde hair looking almost brown with dirt, his face covered in dirt and cuts. There was nothing pleasurable about this at all, it was dirty and terrifying. _

_Elijah had wanted to feel human deep down, but this? This was the closest he had come and it was not pleasant at all. _

"_Yes," Elijah finally said, "of course."_

"_Even if something happens," Alfred said, "you have my back, and I'll have yours."_

_Elijah would have smirked at the idea of a young boy protecting him, but in this situation, it made him feel something he hadn't felt in a long while. He couldn't find Klaus, but Alfred was the closest thing to a brother he had after such a long time. _

_Elijah nodded, looking back at the smoke rising above the field, things starting to become quieter slightly. That's when the whistle blew out and instinct kicked in. Elijah pulled himself up and out of the trench. He had told himself a number of times that if he were to go over the top, he would use his vampire speed. But, as he took off at human speed, making sure that he could see Alfred in his vision. _

_He couldn't leave him now, this was it. They had managed to make it a few feet from the trench when something happened. Elijah wouldn't have heard it coming over all the gun fire, but Alfred flew back suddenly, landing in the water in a creator where the earth had been blown open due to an explosion. _

"_Alfred!" Elijah called out, jumping into the water and grabbed the young boy. He pressed himself against a wall of dirt, blocking himself and the boy from the onslaught of bullets. _

"_Alfred?" Elijah called out, the boy limp in his arms. There was blood coming from his head, the young boy's eyes wide and dull. Elijah seemed at a loss of what to do, he needed to get to the other side. But, his mind was on the boy in his arms, blood in his hair from the bullet hole and his life force gone. _

_His heart was stopped, he couldn't heal him. He wanted to carry him back to the trench, but any men seen climbing back inside would be shot. And that wouldn't go over well for Elijah. _

_It dawned on him that he had to leave Alfred in the mud and water, to get to the other side. Like he had said. _

_He had to do this. He had to get out of here. _

_Elijah placed his friend down in the mud, quickly moving out towards the open. _

_He would do this. _

_For Alfred. _

**~!~!~!~!**

**A/N: **I honestly have no idea where this came from. I'm in a dark mood, the the stuff we are learning in Social Studies seems to put ideas into my head. Anyway, after thinking about that I refused to believe that since the vampires, Originals especially, had been on earth for so long, they had to have been in some war or witness some sort of historical event of some sort.

And thus, that is where this little short one-shot came from. And, for some reason, FanFic is messing up my editing. I apologize if it is messed up.

Reviews make me smile! :D


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